Gotcha! No, you can’t sterilize your flogger without destroying it in the process. You can however clean it and even sanitize it. That doesn't mean you should clean your flogger every time you use it. Cleaning is only going to remove dirt and some oils. Don’t drop it on the ground and make sure your bottom is bathed before a flogging and there isn't much to clean unless you break the skin or it fluid bonds.
Cleaning is a royal pain in the ass to do and you still only manage to clean ½ of it. Each fall must be cleaned separately. Take a damp(not wet) rag with a little saddle soap on it and with a light circular motion scrub the grain side of each fall. The grain side is the smooth side. Take another damp cloth and repeat without saddle soap, just water to rinse. Try not to get the leather wet. Do this with each fall until you have gone through all 50-60 falls. If the leather is wet it will dry stiff and will need conditioned. Most heavy paste conditioners will work fine. One fall at a time apply just the tiniest amount of conditioner with a clean rag and buff it on and off. Too much conditioner can make the falls stick together and change how it throws. The whole idea is to push some conditioner through the skin and rub as much off the surface as possible. Do not wash or condition the flesh side of the falls. In theory you could clean them like suede, but it is a fairly long process by the time you have clean then brushed the nap. Figure 2-4 mins per fall to clean them, much longer if you tackle the flesh side also. Even at the minimum time on a single side of a 50 fall flogger, you have almost 2 hours of labor just to clean. You can skip cleaning and go to the next step.
Sanitize or sterilize?
Sanitize - To take action needed to clean the environment or a part of it, removing or reducing pathogenic microorganisms and their habitats.
Sterilize - The complete elimination or destruction of all living microorganisms including spores. The preferred methods of sterilization are high pressure steam/temperature (in autoclaves) for items that can withstand high temperature, and ethylene oxide gas for items that cannot withstand high temperature.
Sanitizing is chemical and sterilization is usually thermal. The effectiveness of sanitizing is determined by the chemical(s) used. And the effectiveness of sterilization is determined by the temperature. 100% sanitation is not practical. There is no single process that is capable of killing all life on a material, leaving the material undamaged and leaving it safe to use. Some have messaged me regarding the use of ethylene oxide gas as a sterilant. Hey if you have access to that type of commercial equipment and you boss doesn't mind you slipping a flogger in with that load of apples or surgical garb, by all means give it a go. Ethylene oxide is as poisonous as it is flammable. It is unlikely it will ever become available for home use.
Too many times I have heard “But I use Clorox wipes then bath my flogger in UV light. Everyone knows bleach kills germs and UV fries cell walls.”
READ THE INGREDIENT LABEL!!! Clorox wipes do not contain bleach. They are just as useless on dungeon furniture as they are on leather. If you want to use a wipe then use one that at least is used in hospitals such as PDI brand Super Sani-Cloth. It is a germicidal, bactericidal, tubercolocidal, virucidal 2 min wipe and it won’t leave that white residue many wipes do.
Well congrats! You have wiped the outside of a porous surface and it is now sanitized. Wrong, what gets in can get out and usually during the drying time. Bottom line is using a wipe on leather just makes you feel better.
UV light is another false hope. UV is a great way to sanitize a smooth, nonporous surface that can be completely exposed to it. Not so good on a surface that is porous or rough. UV is a light wave and behaves just like visible light. It travels a straight line(doesn’t take corners well) and stops when it meets a barrier. It cant get into the nooks and crannies very well and wont penetrate the surface. Long term exposure will also burn the leather just as it burns your skin.
Damn you Sovran! We cant use wipes, cleaners, heat, water, or UV to sanitize our floggers! What’s left?
What’s left is the one thing you might feel you have wasted reading this note. Time. Time in a dry environment will kill any BBP we might come in contact with. The amount of time depends on the BBP. The US CDC states Hep virus lives the longest in a desiccated state. They claim 4 weeks. Other governments and organizations claim up to 8 weeks.
Hang your flogger up in a ventilated area away from temp or humidity extremes. I hang mine for 5-6 weeks on the back of the bedroom door with a play date tagged on it. It’s not that I don’t trust the CDC, but they are government run. No matter what type of consent you practice here is where you have to add PRICK. Personal responsibility is really up to you.
Once you have all your floggers hanging and waiting for the clock to tick, take a look through my gallery. Now is a good time to go shopping. :-)
From time to time the US CDC reevaluates and changes the information given on their website. As of 3/31/2016 they state "The Hepatitis C virus can survive outside the body at room temperature, on environmental surfaces, for up to 3 weeks."
SOURCE: https://fetlife.com/users/1107372/posts/2416479